It is incredibly different from Rome even though it's right over the water. Whereas Rome has very few chain restaurants/stores (zero Starbucks, but an occasional McDonald's), Barcelona has as many chains as non chains. The people are also quite diverse in Barcelona. Rome has a very homogenous population, and anyone who doesn't have dark hair, olive skin, and partakes in their unspoken dress code is immediately suspect to be foreign.

Luckily, against what everyone told me, Spanish was quite common as a spoken language. Also, the weather was beyond ideal. So, that was fantastic.

Be sure to follow my instagram: @ejw211

As per usual I did my photographer thing, and I took portraits of my friends in their hotel lobby.

Those were so easy to take! We had two people googling directions to the Pablo Picasso museum, and I would just snag one at a time for a couple minutes.

And because they're probably my favorite things to look at and study...Here are a few befores and afters.